Labour St Mary's

They say that 7 days is a long time in politics and the first couple of days of election week have certainly been interesting. Yesterday there was a bomb alert on Sale West and today there has been a bombshell alert as the Lib Dem candidate in St. Mary’s, Jordan Cooper,  has defected to Labour. This was his statement on the Manchester Young Labour website today:

SIMPLES…

It’s been a busy but rewarding few weeks since we last updated the blog. We’ve been out canvassing each weekend and most weekday nights, which means a lot of St.Mary’s has now been canvassed. If you’re seeking to represent people in the council, the least you can do is go and meet them and listen to what they might actually need from their elected representatives. One evening out and about was particularly memorable. In the space of an hour Simon was bitten by a terrier (owner was a labour voter…), chatted to a man who came to the door in nothing but a t-shirt, y-fronts and socks and helped a young woman hunt for her missing cat.

Although we’re getting a lot of good feedback on the doorstep, the budget and the NHS seems to have really angered people, it’s true to say that there’s also a lot of disillusionment with politicians from all the parties. It’s not surprising really, given the expenses scandal, the sense that this current government is for the rich and that yet again manifesto promises have been broken on issues such as the NHS, which is undergoing its biggest shake-up since it was created in 1948 despite a pledge from the prime-minister that there would be no top down re-organisation.

For things to change, and for people to start to once again trust their elected representatives, we have to start locally, at the grassroots. Many decisions that affect all our lives are taken by the local council and so good councillors, who are working hard for their communities can make a real difference. Simon has already been working in the ward since last Autumn and has held chats with people in libraries, shops and even a pub. This has led to streetlights being fixed, issues with housing trusts being raised and investigating ways of solving a problem with speeding cars down a cut through route. And local residents can also be more engaged with local politics, when each week they have the chance to meet their local councillor and let him or her know about the issues that matter.

A lot of people on the doorstep ask why it’s worth them making the effort to vote when they feel as if they’re just going to be let down again. It’s a fair question. The simple truth is that, even if you don’t vote, someone will still be elected but with less of a mandate. It feels powerful to withhold your vote but in actual fact it hands even greater power to those elected,as they feel they have less people to answer to. The real way to make yourself heard, to make sure you get politicians to do what they say they will, is to vote and then hold them to account, make them aware that you’re watching what they do. Then, and only then, will you get real change. So on May 3rd, get out and vote and make yourself heard.

FAMILY PHOTO

We were out in force before Easter and visited an entire estate in one morning. There were lots of issues raised and several people took posters. We chatted to a lot of people on subjects as diverse as what it’s like returning from serving in Afghanistan to why City won’t win the title ( from a City fan…).

Just a few of the team that were out.

POSTER BOY

We’ve started handing out posters and so they’ll be starting to appear over the coming weeks. If you’d like one, let us know and we’ll drop one round.

Even though the election isn’t for another 7 weeks, Simon has been out working in the community since last year. In that time he’s fixed locks for old ladies, helped with advice on housing issues and, as you have seen, put out a fire. He’s also got streetlights put back on and got involved in local traffic calming campaigns. Much of this work has been picked up purely by being out and about in the local area, chatting with people. He may not be a councillor yet, but he already seems to be working as hard a one…

IS IT FAIR?

This past week has seen a huge amount of national news concerning the NHS, the minimum wage and the privatisation of the road system. The change to the NHS is the most important issue facing us at the moment. Despite a pledge before the General Election in 2010 not to make any top down changes, David Cameron has begun the biggest shake up of the NHS since it was established in 1948. In Trafford we perhaps feel more strongly about this than anywhere else as Trafford General is the birthplace of the NHS. The NHS belongs to all of us. It’s a service that’s envied throughout the world and one that brings the whole country together. It should be above politics as it belongs to us all.

There’s been such overwhelming opposition to the bill that is currently going through Parliament. Doctors, nurses and many others that help us each and every day have told the Government that the bill is deeply flawed, that it risks breaking up the NHS, compromising care and patient choice and is the first step to privatisation. Despite the experts telling the government that they’ve got it wrong, the changes are being forced through.

No-one voted for these changes (they weren’t in the Tory party manifesto) and surely any government should listen if the overwhelming majority of health professionals, and patients, are saying the bill should be dropped. There are already too many examples of private companies that deliver care for the elderly getting into financial difficulties and leaving the most vulnerable people in our society in real difficulty. We simply feel it’s not fair to do this to our NHS.

THE BARE MINIMUM

It was today announced that the minimum wage is to be increased by 11p per hour for those over 21, but not at all for those under that age. How is this fair? Teenagers and 20 year olds still need to eat, to travel and to buy clothes. As inflation is running at just under 4% this, in real terms, is actually a pay cut. It’s not as if the headline amount of £6.19 is really a living wage, but keeping the income of young people so low surely isn’t fair. Rent prices are shooting up as is the price of petrol, clothing and many foodstuffs. It’s often argued that keeping wages low is good for business, as if that solves everything. I’ve been self-employed all my life and used to run a shop, so I’m a long way from being anti-business. However, often the only way that people on minimum wage survive is by then claiming benefits which we, the tax payer, pay for. So, in effect, business is subsidised by the tax payer. I don’t have a problem with this, if it’s the only way for business to flourish and provide jobs. But we should at least be honest and open about it. Then, perhaps, we would stop removing benefits from hard working people, who may feel that all they’re doing is driving themselves into the ground to help, for instance Tesco, make bigger profits.

All DONE…

We were back out at the weekend and the whole ward has now had a leaflet. That’s over 5000 properties. It hailed again on Saturday but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, as they say and we’ve certainly seen some weather during this campaign. As you can see from the post below, we came across a fire in a hanging basket whilst out on Friday. It was an odd moment. Simon wanted to help, but was aware he was on private property. The film that happened to be shot captures a strangely British moment…

“THE HANGING BASKET’S ON FIRE”

Simon was out campaigning yesterday afternoon. “It’s never dull out on the campaign trail. Whilst out yesterday I came across this fire in a hanging basket, so obviously I ran to help. A colleague happened to be shooting some film of the campaign at the time, so it was captured for history…”

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

GROWING SUPPORT

We were back out this weekend delivering leaflets to more houses and we managed to get round at least another 400. It won’t be many days before the whole ward will have had a leaflet. Today, on Sale West, was very inspiring. As the weather was pretty mild there were loads of people out doing their gardens. There are obviously some keen gardeners out there. One lawn was neatly mowed with the dark and light stripes you see on a football pitch and it was lovely to see so many people showing such pride in their homes.

It gave the team the chance to talk to quite a few of the residents and it was great to hear what people are thinking. One man, who was digging up earth to plant some vegetables, was particularly supportive. “I simply don’t know who voted for the Tories.” he said, thrusting his spade into the earth with a little bit more anger. “People have such short memories”. Simon then went on to discuss with him how there were so many more Labour voters in Trafford than people think. He agreed that often the perception is that there’s  no point in voting in the local elections as the Tories are guaranteed to get in.

The reality is very different. So many of the policies that are decided nationally can only be put into action locally, with the co-operation of the local councils. And so voting at the local elections is very important. It’s also true to say that there are enough Labour supporters in Trafford to bring in a Labour council, who obviously would oppose the unfair cuts that people are now having to suffer.

We suspect that the unfairness of the cuts will be a big part of the campaign over the coming weeks.

UTD v CITY

If we’d been asked to do a poll of whether City or United had the most supporters in Sale West we’d have to say that it seems to be an even split. Both teams were in action (with varying degrees of success) and so plenty of people had their team shirts on, which meant we got a pretty good idea of the split on the estate.

MOLLY

“Cutest Dog” award this afternoon goes to Molly, a tiny white Yorkshire Terrier. She was only ankle high but she was doing a damn fine job of protecting her owner’s garden. We didn’t dare open the gate in case she ran off. The owner, who came out to chat with us, said Molly would have been off in an instant, and I suspect that none of our team would have had the lungs to go belting off after a determined terrier.

What is decided in Westminster has a big effect on your lives. Before the last election in May 2010 David Cameron said that the NHS was safe in his hands and pledged that there would be no top down re-organisation of the health service. This pledge now lies in tatters as he and the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, push through the biggest shake-up in the history of the NHS. It’s causing huge disquiet amongst doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Patients are suffering too. And yet despite the overwhelming criticism Cameron and Lansley are unwilling to listen.

Trafford is the birthplace of the NHS so there is a particular attachment to the service here. Simon joined Andy Burnham, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, in Urmston last week as part of the “Drop The Bill” campaign. Andy Burnham said ” The NHS belongs to all of us. It should be above politics”

Simon agrees. ” The NHS is one of the great creations in our country’s history. It is envied around the world. It does belong to all of us and we need to fight to protect it not just for our generation but for our children and their children too. I don’t want to see a private health service like they have in America, where people simply can’t get treatment as they can’t afford it. We have to do all we can to oppose this terrible bill.”

To sign the “Drop The Bill” petition click here.

The weather took a turn for the worse this weekend but the team didn’t let that get in the way of delivering thousands of leaflets across the ward. Over 15 people took our newly designed leaflets to nearly the whole ward in just 2 days. During the work on Sunday afternoon there was a massive hailstorm and it felt like being sand blasted. However, that didn’t stop us. Very deep anger about the reforms to the NHS, plans to privatise the police force and the simple injustice of young people being made to work for large multi-national companies for free was enough to keep us going. We’ll be back out every weekend between now and the election on May 3rd, no matter what the weather. We’ve now survived snow, hail and rain. I hope we’re able to bring some sunshine come election day.